Police informant testifies in booby trap case

The Associated Press

A police informant testified Monday that a man charged with the attempted murder of a Hemet police officer told her he wanted to buy a rocket to fire at police after several prior attempts to kill officers failed.

Joy Dickenson testified Monday that she came to know defendant Nicholas Smit after he bought a World War II-era bazooka from her friend's boyfriend, according to The Press-Enterprise (
http://bit.ly/qVZYVX
).

On June 22, 2010, Smit came back Dickenson's acquaintance to complain about how the weapon failed to blow up the Hemet police station.

The dud bazooka was found on the roof of the Los Altos Market in Hemet on June 3, 2010.

The market is across the street from the Hemet Police department where Detective Chuck Johnson worked. Johnson was slated to testify against Smit on drug charges.

Smit is charged with 12 felonies, including attempted murder of a police officer and assembling a booby trap.

Dickenson also testified that she was motivated to come forward because of a $200,000 reward in the case.

"Realistically, it was a big motive," Dickenson said, according to the newspaper.

Dickenson's information, along with DNA evidence, led to Smit's arrest.